Women Officials Network Foundation to honor 5 women at annual banquet

The Women Officials Network Foundation will be honoring five women at the WONder Woman Awards Banquet April 30 at the San Marino Club in Troy. The award honors women who have improved the quality of life in Southeast Michigan through their civic, philanthropic and professional accomplishments. This year marks the 30th celebration of WONder Women. The 2014 WONder Women are: Debra Ehrmann, Lisa Gorcyca, Mattie McKinney Hatchett, Ruth Elliot Holmes, and Cynthia Walker.

The Honorable Debra Ehrmann has held elected and appointed office including service on the State Commission on Spanish Speaking Affairs and the Oakland County Employment Diversity Council.

The Honorable Lisa Gorcyca is Presiding Judge of the Family Division of the Oakland County Circuit Court. Before her election to the bench in 2008, she worked 15 years working at the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office as Chief of the Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse Unit. She was recently recognized as Top Circuit Court Judge for 2014.

The Honorable Mattie McKinney Hatchett was first elected to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners in 2002 and made history in 2011, when she became the first African American woman to serve as President of the Michigan Association of Counties. Known as “The Mother of Pontiac,” Hatchett served as Deputy Mayor and has spent more than 50 years advocating for her community.

Advertisement

Ruth Elliot Holmes is President of the International Women’s Forum – Michigan which brings together a global membership of women to exchange ideas, to learn and to inspire and promote better leadership for a changing world. She worked for the African-American Institute in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and was active in the international community in Brussels, Belgium. Holmes owns her own business and was named 2010 Innovator of the Year.

The Honorable Cynthia Thomas Walker currently serves as Chief Judge of the 50th District Court in Pontiac and has been a district judge since 2003. Before taking the bench, she worked as Court Administrator of that court, as Pontiac City Attorney, and as a staff attorney for UAW Legal Services and for Legal Services of Eastern Michigan. She serves on the board of the Oakland County Bar Association.